Of the six skills found within the Mage constellation, also referred to as the Mage playstyle, Enchanting is the one least geared towards direct combat. In fact, there is no spell for Enchanting that can be cast. All of one's magically empowering activities need to take place at an arcane enchanter.
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Thankfully, there are many such magic tables located throughout The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. There are two main things that can be done when at an arcane enchanter: enchanting an item with no enchantment or disenchanting an item that already has one. The former can grant useful traits to armor and weapons while the latter is an excellent way to earn experience in this skill and learn new enchantments. To make the most of one's Enchanting endeavors, one must know as much as possible in order to seize every crafting advantage imaginable and obtain the most game-breaking gear possible.
10 Soul Gems
To enchant an item, the Dragonborn needs three components: an item to enchant, the desired enchantment, and a filled soul gem. The power of the player's enchantments depends heavily on what kind of soul is used. There are six varieties of souls. From weakest to strongest in terms of enchanting power, they go: petty, lesser, common, greater, grand, and then black.
There are adequately sized soul gems for each type of soul, though bigger gems can be filled by souls much smaller than what they are intended for, such as a greater soul gem being filled with a petty soul. Soul gems can be found while exploring the world fairly often, usually in places with lots of mages or magical events occurring, like the College of Winterhold.
9 Where To Enchant
Initially, the safest and easiest to reach arcane enchanters can be found in the court wizard's quarters of any Jarl palace or longhouse in Skyrim (except for Falkreath and Winterhold, as they have no court wizards). But there are many others that can be found near magic-using enemies such as vampires and necromancers.
Most purchasable player homes also can be outfitted with an enchanting room for a bit of coin. Simply speak with the city's steward to find the options to do so.
8 Best Races To Pick For An Enchanting Build
There are three races that start with a +5 bonus to their Enchanting skill level due to their natural affinity for such magic. The first of these is the Imperials. From their home province of Cyrodiil, they've essentially ruled the continent of Tamriel for hundreds of years. Their natural talents and orderly civilization make them well rounded in many aspects, including great potential for magic.
The next is the Altmer. Also called high elves, these mer are the most magically gifted out of all the currently playable races. They gain a +5 starting level bonus to all skills under the Mage constellation with the exception of Illusion, for which they get a +10 bonus. Last, but certainly not least, is the Orsimer. They may at first seem brutish, however, the orcs are incredibly gifted when it comes to smithing and crafting, making them the best race for players looking to craft the best items as soon as possible.
7 Enchantment Types
Enchantments are classified into two broad categories: weapon enchantments and armor enchantments. Those that go on weapons like bows, swords, or axes pertain to what effects can be used to harm foes or benefit the player. With each attack, however, the charge of these enchanted weapons will decrease and must be refilled with a soul when the charge bar runs dry.
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The boons placed upon one's armor do not deplete after time or usage, appearing as a constant effect that is applied to the wearer. There are certain enchantments that only work on specific kinds of armor. The Waterbreathing enchantment can only be given to a helmet and Muffle can only be applied to boots.
6 Finding New Enchantments
At the start of the game, the Dragonborn won't know any enchantments. They all must be found upon items looted from the world and then disenchanted to learn them. This can make learning every possible enchantment take quite a long time, as where and how enchanted items spawn tends to be random.
How powerful an enchantment is on a found weapon, piece of armor, or bit of jewelry will not affect how powerful the learned version is. Things that are disenchanted get destroyed, so be sure not to accidentally break down anything that has a better enchantment on it that one can make themselves. It should also be mentioned that certain quest items cannot be disenchanted, as that would require breaking them.
5 Ways To Level Up
The two easiest and most common ways to level up the Enchanting skill are by disenchanting items or recharging enchanted weapons with filled soul gems. How much experience is gained upon disenchanting an item is directly correlated to how powerful the enchantment is, with the stronger ones being worth more. Even though enchantments can only be learned once, items with known ones can still be broken down for experience points.
Recharging an enchanted weapon yields experience based on how big the soul is that gets used, with grand and black soul gems being worth the most. All regular soul gems will be destroyed when the souls within them get used up, which makes the hunt for them ever-important.
4 Trainers
If one wants a bit of a break from manually raising their Enchanting level, they should visit one of the two main Enchanting trainers in the game, and possibly a third if they have the Dragonborn DLC installed. The first is the Enchanting instructor at the College of Winterhold, Sergius Turrianus, who is an expert level teacher.
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The next can be found in Markarth, within the Temple of Dibella. Mother Hamal, a Nord in a simple linen robe, is a master level trainer. Last, but not least, is Neloth the Dunmer mage who resides in the tallest tower of Tel Mithryn and can only be met if one has the required DLC.
3 Perks Worth Noting
Besides all the excellent perks that boost the power of general or specific enchantments, there are others that can make one's life a fair bit easier. Soul Squeezer provides one with some magicka every time that a soul gem is used to recharge an item.
The Dragonborn can also pick up Soul Siphon, which grants a 5% chance to absorb the soul of anything killed that will instantly recharge an enchanted weapon. Lastly, there is the immensely useful and powerful Extra Effect. As one can guess from its name, it grants the player the ability to put two enchantments on a single piece of equipment.
2 The Best Enchantments
There are 18 different enchantments that can be acquired in Skyrim. With so many options it can be difficult to determine which ones are the best. A lot of them emulate the effects of spells that can be cast, and these offer a way to combine the damage of a weapon with a powerful spell effect for a deadly result.
The most vital one, at least for someone interested in using enchanted weapons, is the Soul Trap effect which lets players fill soul gems with any weapon they so desire. Another that stands out as incredibly handy is the Paralyze effect which can render targets immobile, leaving them completely defenseless in combat.
1 Ridiculously Overpowered Gear
As is typical for a Bethesda game, there are mechanics that can be abused to make the difficulty totally trivial. To do so, one first needs a set of armor that has the Fortify Alchemy effect on every piece. Next, while wearing this armor, craft a Fortify Enchanting potion. It is probably obvious now where this is going.
Next, consume the Fortify Enchanting potion and craft a new set of Fortify Alchemy armor with the boost from the potion to create more powerful alchemic gear. Using the armor with the better effects, make a stronger Fortify Enchanting potion. Continue this process as long as one wants to make a set of armor that can enchant gear with insane stats and effects.
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